White House seeks to block Congress from killing ZTE deal: report

Jun 13, 2018

White House seeks to block Congress from killing ZTE deal: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House will try to derail an effort in the U.S. Congress to block the Trump administration’s deal to allow ZTE Corp, China’s No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker, to resume doing business with American suppliers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The ZTE issue encompasses U.S.-China relations, national security, trade and President Donald Trump’s ties to fellow Republicans in the Senate.

The administration wants to change legislative language in a defense spending bill before the Senate, but will intervene later in the legislative process, the Journal said, citing a senior White House official.

The Senate was expected to pass its bill as soon as this week. It will later need to be reconciled with a defense spending measure already passed by the House of Representatives.

The White House was not immediately available for comment.

Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, and Democrats expressed national security concerns about ZTE after it broke an agreement to discipline executives who had conspired to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

The ZTE issue encompasses U.S.-China relations, national security, trade and President Donald Trump’s ties to fellow Republicans in the Senate.The administration wants to change legislative language in a defense spending bill before the Senate, but will intervene later in the legislative process, the Journal said, citing a senior White House official.The Senate was expected to pass its bill as soon as this week. It will later need to be reconciled with a defense spending measure already passed by the House of Representatives.The White House was not immediately available for comment.Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, and Democrats expressed national security concerns about ZTE after it broke an agreement to discipline executives who had conspired to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran and North Korea.The ZTE issue encompasses U.S.-China relations, national security, trade and President Donald Trump’s ties to fellow Republicans in the Senate.The administration wants to change legislative language in a defense spending bill before the Senate, but will intervene later in the legislative process, the Journal said, citing a senior White House official.The Senate was expected to pass its bill as soon as this week. It will later need to be reconciled with a defense spending measure already passed by the House of Representatives.The White House was not immediately available for comment.Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, and Democrats expressed national security concerns about ZTE after it broke an agreement to discipline executives who had conspired to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

About

WashingtonDailyReport.com is a leading news site that brings you the most updated news from the top leading Washington newspapers and news sites, organizations, government institutions and other popular think tanks. WashingtonDailyReport.com gets updated several times a day and therefore it can be your one stop for all you need to know what is going on in today’s Washington.